Option information such as presence/absence of an additional tray and presence/absence of a duplex printing unit is sometimes different from each other even if the model numbers of printers are the same.
Further, since adhesion conditions of a toner or ink are slightly different from each other even if the model numbers of the printers are the same, each printer sometimes stores color correction information as unique information in order to correct those errors.
The information unique to the printers is read (read back) by a readback tool installed in the computer, and option setting or the like is executed at the computer side based on the read information unique to the printer (e.g. see JP-A-6-87548).